Most towns don’t put their public toilets on the must-see list, but Kawakawa isn’t most towns. Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser lived just outside town from the 1970s until he died in 2000, and when the old main-street toilets needed replacing in the late 90s, he offered to design the new ones. They opened in 1999 and have pulled in visitors from all over the world ever since.
It’s pure Hundertwasser: no straight lines, a grass roof topped with golden balls, chunky ceramic columns, mosaic floors, walls of coloured glass bottles that glow when the sun’s behind them, and a tree growing right through the building. Locals helped build it, using bricks salvaged from old Kawakawa buildings and tiles made by students from the local school. And yes, they’re fully working public toilets, free to use, so you can genuinely stop for a loo break and a look at the same time.
You’ll find them on Gillies Street, which is also State Highway 1, so it’s an easy stop on the drive up to the Bay of Islands, about three hours north of Auckland. Allow 15 minutes for the toilets, or longer to wander through Te Hononga, the Hundertwasser-inspired library and community centre opened behind them in 2020. It gets busy when the tour buses are in, so early morning is best for photos without a queue.
